DRAFT_693JJ3-26-BAA-0005_CDA Prototype.pdf

CDA Small-Scale Industry Prototype 693JJ3-26-BAA-0005

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Federal Highway Administration

Office of Acquisition and Grants Management

Cooperative Driving Automation (CDA) Small-Scale Industry Prototype

[DRAFT]

1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) is announcing its intent to solicit proposals under this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the topic titled Cooperative Driving Automation (CDA) Small-Scale Industry Prototype. This BAA is developed in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.101(b)(3)(ii) and FAR 35.102 which provides USDOT an acquisition tool with the flexibility to make awards to meet present and compelling needs.

This BAA is an expression of interest only and does not commit the Government to pay any proposal preparation costs. All responsible, eligible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal. The Government reserves the right to award contracts that are determined to be of benefit to the Government in achieving the goals of this program.

1.1 Background

USDOT envisions a future transportation ecosystem where CDA complements both human-driven and automated vehicles to improve roadway safety, mobility, and operational efficiency. While standalone vehicle automation has advanced, it continues to struggle with complex edge cases such as occlusion, complex merging, or identifying pedestrians hidden behind buildings at corners, and vehicle sensors alone cannot adequately resolve these issues.

Prior USDOT-supported research projects have successfully demonstrated the technical proof-of-concept at technology readiness levels (TRL) of 3-5 for CDA applications in laboratory and closed environments.

However, most new vehicles are not equipped with CDA capabilities and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) remain reluctant to integrate these technologies into production lines due to a lack of consumer awareness and unclear regulatory, policy, and institutional frameworks.

This acquisition seeks to build on foundational CDA research by bridging the gap between research concepts and commercial viability. There is a critical need to develop and test pre-production, industry-led prototypes at a TRL of 6-7, to validate that the data shared between vehicles and roadside infrastructure is accurate, secure, and reliable enough to support functional safety. By demonstrating CDA technologies in operational conditions, researchers will gain a better understanding of cooperative systems and if they are more valuable in terms of improving roadway safety, than standalone automation or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies alone.

1.2 Legislative Authority

The legislative authority for this BAA is found under 23 U.S. Code § 516 which states, in part: “The Secretary shall carry out a comprehensive program of intelligent transportation system research and development, and operational tests of intelligent vehicles, intelligent infrastructure systems, and other similar activities that are necessary to carry out this chapter.”.

1.3 Purpose

The purpose of this requirement is to demonstrate industry-led CDA prototypes in controlled and real-world conditions in order to generate data-driven insights that will support the development of a national strategy to deploy CDA across rural, suburban, and urban roadway systems. This effort prioritizes industry-ready CDA technology for use cases with clear safety and/or mobility benefit potential, specifically focusing on: (1) Work Zone Management, (2) Traffic Incident Management, (3) Cooperative Perception, and/or (4) Emergency/Transit Vehicle Awareness.

Contractors will first validate the prototype's interoperability, functional safety, and cybersecurity in a relevant, controlled testbed environment. Following successful controlled testing, the effort will progress into a small scale real-world demonstration on public roads with mixed traffic to validate operational readiness and generate data-driven insights.

2 CONTRACT GUIDELINES

Offerors shall propose their industry-ready CDA prototype and guided by the requirements of this BAA and Attachment 1 – Statement of Objectives (SOO), provide their technical proposal to develop, test, evaluate, and document the success and/or failures of a CDA prototype in partnership with USDOT.

2.1 Schedule

The USDOT anticipates the following schedule for this BAA, note that the dates provided are estimates and are subject to change.

Solicitation Posted July 30, 2026 - Questions Due August 14, 2026 3:00 PM Eastern Time

Answers Provided August 19, 2026 - Proposals Due September 13, 2026 3:00 PM Eastern Time

Award/s Made By October 30, 2026 -

All correspondence, including the Q&A and proposal submissions, must be emailed to Contract Specialist (CS) Jessica Prutz at Jessica.Prutz@dot.gov and Contracting Officer (CO) James Mikell at James.Mikell@dot.gov. All submissions must be received on the date and time indicated in the table above.

During the Question and Answer (Q&A) period, all questions must be submitted using Attachment 3 - Q&A Template, attached to this BAA. Questions that are duplicate or similar in substance may be removed. The Government will not respond to individual emails for the Q&A but will publicly post the Q&A to SAM.gov for the benefit of all potential Offerors. Offerors are responsible for checking SAM.gov for updates.

2.2 Communications Protocol

Any exchanges of information must be consistent with procurement integrity requirements of section 27 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 423, as amended) (see FAR 3.104). Offerors are advised that any indication of interest from the Government, in the affirmative, is not meant to imply nor in any way impart an obligation on the part of the Government that an award will be forthcoming for the offered work or project.

2.3 Offeror Eligibility

This is an unrestricted BAA; however, the USDOT is seeking involvement from OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, or Automated Driving Systems (ADS) developers with access to an industry-ready CDA prototype.

All Offerors must be registered in the Federal Government’s System for Award Management (SAM) system at the time of proposal submission.

2.4 Program Requirements and Project Funding Limits

Teaming Requirement This effort has a teaming requirement. Proposals must include four roles: 1) an OEM, Tier 1 Supplier, or ADS developer to develop and provide access to an industry-ready CDA vehicle prototype, 2) an Infrastructure Owner-Operator (IOO) to develop and manage the digital infrastructure, 3) an independent evaluator to objectively measure safety and efficiency improvements, and 4) an access-controlled roadway testbed provider. The Prime contractor for this effort must be either an OEM, Tier 1 Supplier, ADS developer, or an IOO. Note that a single organization or entity may play one or more of the four required roles. If an Offeror proposes to play more than one role, it must clearly present the experience and qualifications to do so.

Phasing Requirement The CDA prototyping effort has two phases:

Phase 1 (Base Period): Controlled Environment Testing: The prototype must first undergo testing in a closed-course or controlled testbed environment. This phase validates interoperability, functional safety, sensor fusion, and cybersecurity. The prototype must successfully pass an Operational Readiness Review (ORR) and safety gate before it is permitted to advance.

Phase 2 (Optional Task): Real-World Demonstration: Contingent upon a successful ORR, the prototype will advance to a small-scale, transitional demonstration on public roads with mixed traffic. This phase evaluates the system's performance in real-world conditions to generate data-driven insights

Project Funding Limits The estimated total value for this acquisition is $5,000,000 over a 24-month period of performance. The 24-month timeline includes a target of 18 months for technical activities and a 6-month buffer for final report reviews and publication. Note that additional funding may be acquired if more than one proposal is selected for award. All awards are subject to the availability of funds.

Offerors may propose phase durations and deliverable schedules within the total possible 24-month period of performance. The Government has no preference on individual phase lengths, provided all technical work is completed within the first 18 months, and the remaining 6 months are reserved for final report review, revisions, and publication.

2.5 Deliverable Requirements

REQUIREMENTS FOR IMPLEMENTING SECTION 508 STANDARDS

NOTE: The following applies to all FHWA contracts containing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a deliverable.

In addition to the work requirements specified in this statement of work, the Contractor shall ensure that all ICT deliverables meet the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and the ICT Final Standards and Guidelines (508 Refresh) at 36 CFR Part 1194.

As defined in the 508 Refresh, at 36 CFR Part 1194, Appendix A, E103.4, ICT is “Information technology and other equipment, systems, technologies, or processes, for which the principal function is the creation, manipulation, storage, display, receipt, or transmission of electronic data and information, as well as any associated content. Examples of ICT include, but are not limited to computers and peripheral equipment; information kiosks and transaction machines; telecommunications equipment; customer premises equipment; multifunction office machines; software; applications; Web sites; videos; and, electronic documents.”

Section 508 requires that all electronic products prepared for the Federal Government be accessible to persons with disabilities, including those with vision, hearing, cognitive, and mobility impairments.

Applicable Standards:

• Appendix A to Part 1194 – Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act: Application and Scoping Requirements

• Appendix B to Part 1194 – Section 255 of the Communications Act: Application and Scoping Requirements

• Appendix C to Part 1194 – Functional Performance Criteria and Technical Requirements

Section 508 Refresh standards are available at https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-ict-refresh.

The Contractor shall adhere to the terms and requirements in FHWA Form 4260 Section 508 ICT Conformance Criteria for Section 508 conformance. The Conformance Criteria document does not need to be completed when submitting a deliverable.

Deliverables identified for publication are subject to further USDOT review after technical acceptance but prior to publication. The Contractor is responsible for and shall make any and all changes to create USDOT Publication Ready deliverables.

2.6 Data Sharing

Appropriately prepared system control, performance, and evaluation data, stripped of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (SPII) resulting from this effort are expected to be made available and posted in a timely fashion on the USDOT ITS DataHub for use by the public and research community. The Contractor shall identify all appropriate data and processes (including privacy-related processes) to be utilized in enabling public data sharing. These processes must be compliant with the USDOT’s current Privacy Policy1 and Public Access Plan2 to ensure information is included where appropriate. Note that all data made available must adhere to guidelines on preparation for submission and accompanying metadata. Please see:

https://its.dot.gov/data/data-submission/

2.7 Code Sharing

Software development, enhancements, alterations, or adaptations developed using federal funding in this effort are intended to be shared as open-source resources in the USDOT ITS CodeHub. Existing applications developed prior to or outside of this effort need not be made open source; however, the Offeror must detail in their proposal what specific systems/hardware/software/applications will remain proprietary. Note that all code made available must adhere to guidelines on preparation for submission and accompanying metadata. Please see: https://www.its.dot.gov/code/code-submission/.

2.8 Intellectual Property Rights

Offerors must describe any limitations on any intellectual property (inventions, trade secrets, copyrights, or trademarks) that will impact the Offeror’s performance of the contract or impact the Government’s subsequent use of any deliverable under the contract. The Offeror must describe the intellectual property in sufficient detail to describe the limitations (data assertions of the Offeror or any subcontractor, etc.), and to describe why or how the Government can accomplish the stated objectives of this BAA with the limitations described or proposed by the Offeror. No assertion of limited rights in patents or patent applications will be accepted.

1 https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/privacy/dot-privacy-policy 2 https://www.transportation.gov/mission/open/official-dot-public-access-plan-v11

2.9 Patents

Awards will generally contain detailed clauses concerning patent rights, rights in technical data and computer software, data reporting requirements, and other terms and conditions, which shall be negotiated as part of the award process.

Offerors must list any known invention or discovery that is or may be patented that may require the Government to obtain a license should the Offeror’s proposal be selected for award. Invention is defined in FAR 27.301 as “any invention or discovery that is or may be patentable or otherwise protectable under title 35 of the U.S. Code, or any variety of plant that is or may be protectable under the Plant Variety Protection Act ( 7 U.S .C. 2321, et seq.).” If any patent or patent application is owned by the Offeror, the Offeror must provide a statement, in writing, that it either owns or possesses the appropriate licensing rights to the patent or patent application for which the Government may require a license. If an Offeror does not own or have license rights to license the Government for any such patent or patent application, the Offeror must explain how the Government may obtain a license or whether the Offeror plans to obtain these rights on behalf of the Government.

For any patent or patent application listed above, the Offeror must provide the patent number or patent application publication number, a summary of the patent or invention title, and indicate whether the Offeror is the patent owner. If a patent or invention is not licensed by the Offeror, identify the licensor.

Rights in patents, patent applications, and invention disclosures are addressed in the patent rights clause to be included in the contract and therefore, as stated in section 2.8, no assertion of limited rights in patents or patent applications will be accepted.

2.10 Proprietary Data Restrictions

Project proposals may contain data the Offeror does not want disclosed to the public for any purpose or used by the Government except for evaluation purposes. If the Offeror wishes to restrict such data, the cover page of the technical and cost/price proposals must be marked with the following legend, and relevant sheets marked as instructed.

This proposal includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed – in whole or in part – for any purpose other than to evaluate this proposal. However, if a contract is awarded to this Offeror as a result of – or in connection with – the submission of these data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting contract. This restriction does not limit the Government’s right to use information contained in these data if they are obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in Sheets [insert numbers or other identification of sheets].

Each restricted data sheet shall be marked as follows:

Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the cover page of this document.

2.11 Document, Data, and Code Rights

Offerors must explicitly detail in their proposal which components will remain proprietary; otherwise, the Government shall maintain unlimited rights to all documents, data and source code developed as a part of this BAA and identified for sharing with the research community. The Government's unlimited rights permit it to use, disclose, reproduce, and distribute the data and code for public sharing purposes.

Additionally, the Government may identify certain documents, data, and/or source code that may not be used or sold without written permission from the Contracting Officer (CO).

2.12 Section 889 Compliance Requirement

Any contract awarded under this BAA must be compliant with Section 889’s “Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment” of Public Law 115-232, also known as the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

FAR 52.240-90 Security Prohibitions and Exclusions Representations and Certifications (SEPT 2025)

FAR 52.240-91 Security Prohibitions and Exclusions (SEPT 2025)

2.13 Executive Order 14398 Compliance Requirement

Any contract awarded under this BAA must be compliant with Executive Order 14398 titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” issued on March 6, 2026. Offerors are encouraged to review the mandatory clause prior to submitting a proposal.

FAR 52.222-90 Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors (APR 2026)

3 PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

Proposals must be organized into two volumes:

Volume I: Technical Proposal Volume II: Business, Cost and Pricing Data

Project proposal documents must meet the following formatting requirements: no less than 10-point font, and single-spaced, single-sided letter size pages with 1” margins (minimum). Proposals must not contain promotional brochures, advertisements, taped recordings, or other extraneous material.

Proposal Page Limits:

There is a 30-page limit for Volume I only, subject to the exceptions and further restrictions described below. Proposal materials submitted over this page limit will not be reviewed.

There is no page limit for Volume II.

Proposal submissions that are incomplete, materially lacking, or not responsive to the technical requirements of this BAA may not be evaluated, or evaluated as is, without further opportunity for revision, at the discretion of the Government’s evaluation committee.

Proposals must be submitted via email to the CS and CO by the designated date and time indicated in section 2.1. Offerors are advised that the Government’s evaluation of a particular project for possible award is based solely on the contents of the Offeror’s proposal and the Offeror’s answers to any technical clarification questions, as transmitted through the CS or CO.

3.1 Volume I: Technical Proposal

General Requirements The technical proposal shall contain the following sections and appendices. Items marked with * do not count toward the page limit.

1. Cover Page*

2. Basic Requirements

3. Technical Approach

4. Statement of Work

5. Team Capabilities and Experience

Appendix A: Resumes* Appendix B: Public Sector Agency Letter(s) of Support*

Section 1. Cover Page:

Project proposals must include a cover page containing the following information:

Working title of the proposed project BAA Title and Solicitation Number “Volume I Technical Proposal” Name, phone number, mailing address, and e-mail addresses for the principal technical and contractual points of contact (person or persons authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Offeror and who can contractually obligate the Offeror’s organization)

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov for all organizations (Offeror and partners) on the proposed team

Secondary Offeror organizations listed (project partners) A statement disclosing the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the development of the

Offerors’ proposal, and certification that all information provided is accurate and verified Date of submittal

Section 2. Basic Requirements Offerors must provide a summary of how their prototype meets the requirements of this project as identified in the SOO to include, at a minimum:

Identification of required partnerships with:

o OEMs and the ability to access OEM CDA prototypes for testing and evaluation.

o An IOO who is implementing V2X applications.

o An independent evaluator who will assess traffic safety and efficiency improvements from CDA usage over automation and connectivity by themselves.

o An access-controlled roadway testbed provider.

Confirmation that the OEM vehicles being used possess CDA and V2X capabilities and prototype functionalities that validate the functional safety and integrity of the system.

Verification of the prototype’s interoperability between roadway users across diverse roadway environments and vendor hardware/software stacks, using relevant communications and message standards (e.g., the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), SAE J2735).

Confirmation that the prototype meets compliance standards as identified in the SOO and is able to operate safely and reliably in varied weather, terrain and traffic conditions.

Addresses data and cybersecurity related issues as it pertains to securely collecting and sharing data and protecting systems from cyberthreats.

Section 3. Technical Approach Offerors must provide a narrative description of the work to be performed, organized as it is expected to be performed. The technical approach section must describe the testing plan for Phase 1 and 2 to complete the required objectives of this project as identified in the SOO. Additionally, the technical approach must include:

Proposed high priority, deployable use-cases the Offeror intends to address.

The Offeror must provide a detailed description of their proposed testing plan for each phase to include identification of the closed testbed provider in Phase 1, and any additional real-world deployment sites in Phase 2.

A risk assessment that includes technical, financial, institutional, IP and patent implications, schedule risks and other risk elements and analysis of their impact on the project. Offerors must describe how the Government can accomplish the objectives of the BAA with any limitations described or proposed by the Offeror.

Offerors must identify any patented or proprietary items to be utilized along with a concise summary of the implications of these considerations with respect to the overall goals of the project.

Section 4. Statement of Work (SOW) The SOW must be clearly marked within the proposal submission and shall not contain any company-sensitive or proprietary data. The SOW must include the following information, at a minimum:

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): Divide the project requirements into tasks and work packages. Hierarchically organize the project work down to the work package level. A table or chart format is preferred.

Project Schedule: Sequence the project activities and identify and estimate resource requirements and activity durations. Present the project schedule as a bar, or Gantt-style chart, including activity relationships (dependencies). Provide a milestone chart for the project illustrating key activities and their expected completion time (weeks from project start). Include intermediate progress reviews, demonstrations or tests, and periodic reporting activities in the schedule. All project deliverables must be clearly listed and described and match the cadence of the project schedule.

Mobilization Plan: In the context of the project schedule, describe the plan to acquire and deploy resources needed for the project, including personnel, facilities, equipment, and other resources, deemed necessary for project execution.

Organization Chart: Offerors must include an organization chart for the project illustrating resources, roles and reporting relationships, and all project partners must be included.

Section 5. Team Capabilities and Experience This section must describe the proposed team, its structure, leadership, and proposed methods of governance of the project. This section at a minimum will address the following:

Outline the project partners, key personnel, and other key organizational roles within the team. Include a Master Staffing Matrix, which denotes each key personnel by name and organization, the total level of effort proposed and key capabilities and credentials.

Outline governance processes and issue resolution methods across team members.

Describe the team’s expertise in systems engineering, performance measurement, standards, stakeholder engagement and outreach, Institutional Review Board (IRB) /human use approval and partnership agreements.

Describe team experience in comparable deployments and technology testing.

Resumes shall be submitted only for key personnel and up to five additional staff. Resumes for any single individual shall not exceed 2 pages. Resumes shall include academic background, technical qualifications, project management and/or subject matter expertise, and relevant project level experience.

NOTE: Letters of intent are required for all partners involved with this project. Resumes and letters of intent shall be provided as separate appendices to the Offeror’s proposal, and do not count against the page limit for Volume I.

3.2 Volume II – Business, Cost and Pricing Data

This volume consists of the following sections:

1. Cover page

2. Recommended Pricing Arrangement and Cost/Price Information

3. Other Financial/Organizational Information

4. Small Business Subcontracting Plan

Section 1. Cover Page The cover page for Volume II must include:

Working title of the proposed project BAA Title and Solicitation Number “Volume II Business, Cost, and Pricing Data” Names, phone numbers, mailing address, and e-mail addresses for the principal technical and contractual points of contact (person or persons authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Offeror and who can contractually obligate the Offeror’s organization), and

UEI from SAM.gov for all organizations (Offeror and partners) on the proposed team A statement disclosing the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the development of the

Offerors’ proposal, and certification that all information provided is accurate and verified Date of submission

Section 2. Recommended Pricing Arrangement and Cost/Price Information Offerors must provide their recommended pricing arrangement (Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP), Cost- Reimbursement, or Time and Materials/Labor Hour (T&M/LH)) and detailed supporting information for the proposed effort to allow for meaningful evaluation and determination of cost and price reasonableness. Offerors must use Attachment 4 – Cost/Price Models as a template. Offerors are advised that a FFP arrangement is preferred and should be used to the maximum extent practicable.

Offerors’ cost/price information shall include the total costs for each phase of the project, and the total cost for both phases combined. Detailed cost and price information must also include a separate breakdown of costs by major SOW task areas. Offerors shall use the same task or subtask numbers as described in the SOW submitted in the technical proposal.

Supporting documentation must be provided for all prices proposed including labor, materials, facility rental fees, travel, and other costs. Other direct costs such as materials and travel will be reimbursed at cost separately. Offerors must provide rationale for all other direct costs proposed. If necessary, the Government will request additional information on any portion of the cost/price proposal, as appropriate.

Cost detail shall include:

Direct Labor:

Personnel by name or labor category Number of hours proposed (commercial organizations) or percent of effort (organizations subject to OMB Circulars) Hourly unburdened labor rate (commercial organizations) or salary rate and basis (9- or

12-month basis) (organizations subject to OMB Circulars) Fringe Benefits Rates applied

Other Direct Costs: Other Direct Costs must be supported by explanation of estimated factors and other relevant supporting details. For example, travel costs must be supported by detailing the estimated trips, number of travelers, and associated costs for airfare, per diem, other transportation, etc. A similar level of detail must be provided for any meeting costs, equipment, copying/printing charges, and other direct costs.

Indirect Costs: Identify the various indirect rates, what they are based on (e.g., labor overhead based on direct labor dollars) and how they are applied/calculated. State any differing indirect rate applications (for example if there is a different proposed indirect rate when applied to travel or material purchases than when applied to subcontractor costs). Offerors must provide dollar values as well as percentages.

Subcontractor costs should be fully detailed, and the information used by the Offeror to analyze the price of the subcontract shall be provided.

The Offeror may propose deliverable or milestone payments with the understanding that:

Payment is dependent on the Government’s technical acceptance of final deliverables.

Payments will not be made for partially completed deliverables.

Draft deliverables may not be priced.

Periodic deliverables such as monthly summaries or iterative deliverables such as testing summaries may be proposed with either per-unit or collective pricing milestones.

The number of any periodic or iterative deliverables must be identified by the expected total quantity of these deliverables for pricing purposes.

For all cost/price proposals, the Offeror must submit, under a separate tab, all (if any) assumptions or conditions upon which the cost/price proposal is based. Additionally, any Cost-Reimbursement or T&M/LH CLINs may be converted into Fixed-Price CLINs through mutual agreement of the parties based on the labor categories and rates after establishing price reasonableness.

Section 3. Other Financial/Organizational Information Offerors shall provide the following financial and organizational information in its Volume II – Contract Cost/Price Proposal:

1. If an offeror proposes a Cost-Reimbursement contract they must provide current documentation of an acceptable accounting system as determined by a Federal cognizant audit agency.

2. Terminated Contracts - List any contract that was terminated for default within the past 5 years.

Briefly explain the circumstances in each instance.

3. A completed copy of the Offeror’s Representations and Certifications if the Offeror is not registered and in the System for Award Management with complete and up to date representations and certifications.

4. Conflicts of Interest - The Offerors shall provide a brief statement in their proposal that describes in a concise manner all past, present, or planned organizational, contractual, or other interest(s) that may affect the Offerors' ability to perform the proposed contract in an impartial and objective manner. The Contracting Officer will review the statement and may require additional relevant information from the Offerors. In accordance with FAR Subpart 9.5, all such information, and any other relevant information known to DOT, will be used to determine whether an award to the Offerors may create an actual or potential conflict of interest. If any such conflict of interest is found to exist, the Contracting Officer may (a) disqualify the Offerors, or (b) determine that it is otherwise in the best interest of the United States to contract with the Offerors and include appropriate provisions to mitigate or avoid such conflict in the contract awarded.

Section 4. Small Business Subcontracting Plan In accordance with FAR 19.109(a)(1)(i) Small Business Subcontracting Plans must be submitted when a contract is expected to exceed $900,000 and the Offeror is other than a small business. Each prime Offeror, who is other than a small business, shall include within its proposal a complete copy of Attachment 2 – Small Business Subcontracting Plan, satisfactorily addressing all the administrative requirements set forth in FAR section 52.219-9. In the event that the Offeror has no such plan, the form shall be submitted with “no plan identified” indicated on the form as applicable and the Offeror shall submit a statement of circumstances supporting that determination.

4 EVALUATION AND AWARD PROCESS

The BAA evaluation process shall be conducted in accordance with FAR Subpart 35.102 (d) – (f).

Offerors will be notified of evaluation results electronically via e-mail. The Government anticipates the award of one or more contracts resulting from this BAA; however, the Government reserves the right to select for award any, all, some, or none of the proposals received in response to this announcement.

4.1 Evaluation Methodology

4.1.1 Project Proposal Evaluation

Proposals will be evaluated using three Evaluation Factors: Factor 1, Technical Merit and Importance to Agency Programs; Factor 2, Availability of Funds; and Factor 3, Cost Realism/Reasonableness.

Evaluation Factors 1 and 2 are of equal importance. Proposals will first be evaluated under Factors 1 and 2 using confidence ratings of High Confidence, Some Confidence, and Low Confidence. Only proposals receiving a “High Confidence” rating, and satisfy Factor 2 (Availability of Funds), will proceed to evaluation under Factor 3. Small Business Subcontracting Plans will only be evaluated for proposals selected for award, on a pass/fail basis.

The Government will select Offeror(s) for award based on the Evaluation Factors as described above and listed below. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions and/or negotiations with Offerors directly to clarify any technical and cost/price details from the proposals. Offerors considered unresponsive to the Government’s communications in a timely manner, defined as meeting Government deadlines established and being responsive to the request may be removed from further consideration.

4.2 Evaluation Factors

Factor 1 – Technical Merit and Importance to Agency Programs. This factor will be evaluated based on the following sub-elements that are of equal importance:

A. CDA Use Case Applicability and Safety/Mobility Impact Potential The proposed CDA prototype aligns with the objective to improve safety and mobility by validating trusted interactions between vehicles and infrastructure using V2X communication.

The prototype addresses high-priority, deployable use cases such as Work Zone Management, Traffic Incident Management, Cooperative Perception, or Emergency/Transit Vehicle Awareness.

Use cases proposed for implementation are extensive and comprehensive.

The proposal clearly articulates a value proposition demonstrating how the trusted cooperative system yields quantifiable improvements in crash avoidance, traffic flow, and efficiency compared to standalone automation or V2X technology alone.

The proposed prototype has the potential for national scalability, demonstrating adaptability across varying geographic regions, traffic volumes, and current communication infrastructure maturity levels.

B. Overall Technical Merit and System Integration The proposed technical approach is capable of meeting the strict two-phase testing objectives.

o Phase 1 Objective: The proposal outlines a robust approach to testing in a closed-course/controlled testbed (TRL 6) to validate core message flows, sensor fusion, cybersecurity, and safety controls.

o Phase 2 Objective: The proposal details a transitional strategy to deploy the tailored system for real-world demonstration (TRL 6-7) on public roads with mixed traffic.

The technical proposal demonstrates understanding of and strict adherence to industry V2X interoperability standards (e.g., SAE J3016, SAE J2735, and IEEE 1609.2).

The proposal incorporates robust "security-by-design" practices, explicitly detailing approaches to certificate management (SCMS/PKI), message authentication, end-to-end encryption, and misbehavior detection.

C. Likelihood of Success and Risk Mitigation The management approach includes a test and evaluation plan that demonstrates the Offerors understanding and rigor required.

The proposal includes a risk assessment that accounts for the projects potential technical, institutional, and schedule risks, and outlines the practical mitigation strategies the Offeror will implement to resolve these barriers.

The proposal details the processes and procedures the Offeror will take to develop a comprehensive Safety Management Plan post-award, describing their framework for addressing hazard analysis and risk assessment and functional safety mitigations.

The proposed methodology clearly establishes how the prototype will successfully pass the required safety gate and Operational Readiness Review in Phase 1 before public road testing is permitted.

The technical approach provides a practical framework for Independent Evaluation, identifying use-case-aligned Key Performance Indicators such as cooperative communication latency, V2X message accuracy, and infrastructure utilization efficiency.

The proposed schedule is realistic and allocates sufficient time to accomplish all technical milestones within the 24-month period of performance.

D. Team Qualifications and Public Partnership Strength The proposal demonstrates a strong, multidisciplinary teaming arrangement led by an OEM, Tier

1 Supplier, or ADS developer, in close partnership with an IOO, and an independent evaluator to assess CDA benefits and progress.

The team possesses verifiable access to pre-production Level 1+ automated vehicles and V2X prototype capabilities required to execute the testing.

The public sector IOO partner demonstrates clear commitment to providing supporting data and facilitating access to real-world deployment sites for Phase 2 demonstrations.

The proposed technical staff possesses a comprehensive set of credentials, including deep expertise in sensor fusion, system interoperability, functional safety, performance measurement, and cybersecurity.

Factor 2 - Availability of Funds The Government will consider the overall availability of funding for allocations or awards selected under this BAA.

Factor 3 – Cost Realism/Reasonableness Cost reasonableness and realism analysis will only be conducted on the highest technically rated proposals in consideration of evaluation factors 1 and 2. Cost will be considered in the ultimate award decision, as the Government may choose not to make an award if the Contracting Officer is unable to determine whether the costs are realistic and reasonable.

Small Business Subcontracting Plan The Small Business Subcontracting Plans, as applicable, will only be evaluated for proposals selected for award and will be evaluated on a “Pass/Fail” basis. Small Business Subcontracting Plans are only required for other than small businesses that submit proposals of $900,000 or more. See Attachment 2 – Small Business Subcontracting Plan. Small Business Subcontracting Plans that fail the initial evaluation will be asked to revise their proposal to meet the Government’s standard or may be removed from further consideration.

4.3 Award Selection and Notifications

After an awardee is selected, the USDOT may enter into negotiations with the awardee regarding any aspect of the contract award. The Government reserves the right to remove an awardee from award consideration should the parties fail to reach agreement on contract terms, conditions and cost/price within a reasonable time, or if the Offeror fails to provide any additional information requested in a timely manner. All awards will be subject to the availability of funds. Only the Contracting Officer can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds under the BAA.

Awards received through this announcement are not controlled by general procedures of FAR Part 15 “Contracting by Negotiation,” rather they are awarded under the authority and procedures described in FAR Part 35 “Research and Development Contracting.” Accordingly, given the inherent nature of a broad agency announcement, specific terms, conditions, and contract clauses, including FAR, USDOT and FHWA terms and conditions, can only be determined by specifics of a proposed project and will be determined based on the appropriate contract and entity type. Accordingly, contract clauses will be identified and defined prior to award.

5 ATTACHMENTS

Attachment 1 Statement of Objectives Attachment 2 Small Business Subcontracting Plan Attachment 3 Q&A Template Attachment 4 Cost/Price Models